Machine for threading sheet-metal screws



(No Model.) 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. C. HOPE.

- MACHINE EUR THREADING SHEET METAL SGREWS. No'. 270,314.

Patented Jan. 9, 1883.

'WITNESSESz N. PETERS. FmlLimngmph (No Model.) 2 shets-sheen 2.

C.' HOPE. E

MACHINE EUR THREADING SHEET METALSCREWS. No. 270,314.

' Patented Jan WITN ESSES;

N. paens. Phuxu-umognphar, wnhingmnfb. c.

Y ,i NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

` CHARLES noPE, on oAMnEN, NEW JERSEY, AssIeNoE E oNEEALE To WILLIAM wEETs, 0E SAME PLAUEAND wiLLIAM HARRY MATTsoN, 0E

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

-VlACHIN'E FOR THREADING SHEET-METAL. SCREW-S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,314, dated January 9, 1.863.

` Application 'tiled November 17, 1882. (No model.) I

To all whom A15 may concern Beit known that I, CHARLES HOPE, of Gamden, New Jersey, haveinvented a new and usefullmprovenent in Machines for Threading Sheet-Metal Screws; and I do hereby declare the following to be a\full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings., makingpart hereof.

`The `nature of myinvention will t'ullyappear fromthe following specificationand claims.

lt has for its object the production of certain mechanism for sheet-metal-threading machines having a `continuous action, whereby several sheet-metal caps are in the machine at the same time, and while one ca-p is being threaded upon one setofscrew-threaded formers the other cap is in .place upon another set of screw-threaded formers, ready to be operated upon the insta-nt the first cap is finished,

and while the latter cap is being threaded the iirst cap is released, another being substituted for it. This I accomplish, as above intimated, by two ormore sets ot' formers upon the same machine, both operated by the same mechanism. The method ot` accomplishing `these objects will be fully hereinafter set forth. 1n the drawings, Figure l is a front eleva.- tiou of my machine; Fig. 2, a horizontal crosssectional view looking down upon the same.

upon the line X X of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a vertical cross-sectional view ofthe whole machine upon the line Y Y of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detached elevation ot' one set ot' the screw-threaded formers, showing a cap in cross-section in process 1 of being threaded; Fig. 5, a detached sectional view of one of the lormers, showing the automaticspring-plunger forreleasingthethreaded cap from the former after the cap has been threaded and theformer raised; Fig. 6, a perspective view of a completed threaded cap.

A is the frame of my machine; lB, an arch supporting the two former spindles `and the upright operating-shaft near their upper ends. U C are two inwardly-extendin g arms, preferably cast in onepiece with the arch B.

l) is the drivin g-shaft, operated by pulley D. E is a beveled cog-Wheel on the inner end of said shaft, which engages with the beveled cog-wheel E upon the foot of upright operathead of a spindle.

| ing-shaft F. (See Figs. l and 3.) The shaft F is furnished upon its upper end with-acam plate, G, having around the edge ot' one side of its lower surface the cam G". This cam is .designed to throw the former-spindles down in its revolution whenever the cam strikes the A similar cam'plate, H, is set lower down upon the shaft F, below the arch B. This cam-plate has a cam, H', in the same relative situation upon the under side of plat-cH as that occupied by cam Gr upon the under side of plate G. (See Figs. l and 3..) This cam operates upon the. plungers l I similarly to the operation of the canov G upon the spindles J J'. It may be noted here that the formers upon the feet ot' the spindles are always righthand threaded, while those formers which gear with them are always left-hand threaded. The right-hand-threaded former upon the lower end or foot of spindle J is denominated K,

while K is the right-hand-threaded former upon the foot of spindle J. (See Fig. 1.)

L is aV lever, pivoted at L', having upon one end the left-hand-threaded former K", and upon the other end a spiral spring, L, secured at the pointLiv. (See Fig. 2.) L is a similar opposite lever, pivoted at the point M, having upon that end next to the formerK a former, K", and upon the other end a corresponding spiral spring, Lvl, which Spring is secured at its opposite end at the point Lm. f

It will be noticed inthe illustration Fig. 2 that the former K, withthe cog-wheel upon its top, by which latter it is revolved by the cog-wheel of former K., is much smaller than former K. These two formers and their cog'l wheels are, however, in practice of exactly the same size, and the cog-wheels have the same' number ot' teeth, the diderence in the sizes being simply a convenience in drafting. The same remarks are applicable to the two formers K K with their cog-wheels.

N is an enlargement upon the shaft F, having upon one side the cam or enlargement N', which cam serves to force the left-handed. screwthreaded former, against which it impinges, toward the right handed screw threaded former adjoining it, in orderto form the thread on the cap which is being revolved between .these two formers.

As this cam ceases to operate upon either left-handed former the spiral spring attached to the other end of thelever upon which said left-handed formeris set draws y back that endl ofthe lever, and so releases said v the drawings,) serve to turn the said pulleys,

and consequently the spindles J J.

P P'are spiral springs, each setting down upon the top, of arch B, andv abutting above, respectively, against the lower sides of the adjustable collars Q Q. These collars are adjustable vertically upon the spindles J J by means of set-screws, (see Fig. 1,) wherebythe springs P P' may be tightened down to give greater power or be relieved when desired.

In Fig. 5, K is a right-handscrew-threaded former. It is a cupshaped plunger, set so as to Work snugly up and down within said former, and is secured in place against dropping ou't of said former by means of the scre w-l bolt S, which is screwed into the lower end of spindle F. A spiral spring, T, surrounds the bolt inside of the former K and between. the top of the movable plunger R and the inside face of the top of the plunger K. The former K'is furnished with a similar plunger, spring,

- and bolt.

The operation is as follows: Supposing the machine to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, the power which drives the belts ()"is applied and the pulleys O O' are thus started revolving. The shafts J J' are thus turned-at the same time, the belt which turns pulley D' is started, and the shaft D revolves, thus, through the intermediary beveled cogs E E', turning the shaft F and the cam-plates G H. The beveled cogE turns in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1, and the turning of the shafts J J' turns the formers K K' in the direction indicated bythe arrows in Fig. 2. A metal cap which it is designed to thread is now inserted under the former K'. The revolution of the upright shaftI F will finally bring the cam G' down upon the'top of shaft J and force down the shaft, so that the former K' will beforced down into the plain cap, to be threaded simultaneously therewith. The revolution of the-cam-plate-H will bring the cam H' around and upon the top of the plunger I'. This will force downtheleft-band-screw-threadedformer K'" to the same plane or level as that of the former K. At thevsame time the enlargement then being revolved by its shaft J', revolves the former K'" by means of the cog-wheels set upon. the tops of these two formers, respectively. The threadA is thus formed in the sheetmetal cap. G' were operated as above described,the former end of lever L was released from the pressure of the cam N'and the contraction of the springl L'" threw the former K" away from contigui'ty of the former K. At the same time the removal of the pressure ofthe cam G' from the top of shaftJ allowed the shaft J, operated by its spiral spring P, to rise up and lift the former. K to the height shown in the drawings, Fig. l, as there occupied by the former K. At the same time the'removal ot' the pressureof cam H' from the top of the plunger I permitted the said plunger to rise to lthe height shown by the plunger I' in Fig. l. This rising was effected by means of the spring V. (See Fig. 3.) Both the plungers I and I' are furnished with spiral springs V, set in a socket in the plate or platform A. These springs V operate to raise the plungers I I' in the same manner that the springs P P' operate respectively to raise the shafts J J' when the latter are released from the pressure of the cam G. The formcrs K K" having thus been raised and separated from each other while the sheetmetal cap was being screw-threaded by the formers K' and K'", a plain sheet-metal cap is now placed under the former Kin the same manner as the other cap was-described to have been placed under theformer K'. By the revolution of the shaft F the cam G'presses down the shal'tJ, and the cam H' presses down the plunger I, and the cam N' presses the former K" against the outer shell of the cap to be threaded, and the revolution of the two form- Now, when the cams N', H', and

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moved from contact with it, and the righthand-threaded former is raised up; but to further insure the release of the cap from the former when the latter is raised, I use the cupshaped plunger R, which, when the former iS raised, actuated by the spiral spring T,'shoots down out of the former and frees the cap from the latter. Now,'while theformer K is threading its sheet-metal cap, the parts J J', I I', and the former K'" being released from the pressure of their respective cams G' H' N', the formers K' and K'" will rise, the former K'" will separate from contact with the recentlythreaded cap, which will be thrown by the plunger down and away from the former K', and another plain cap will be immediately inserted beneath the former K', to be threaded.

ned, so that while one cap is being threaded upon pne set of formers, a recently-threaded cap is removed and another one set in place y for threading upon the other set of formers'in onecontinuousoperation. When a rigl1t-hand threaded former descends into the cap to be threaded the cup-shaped'plunger `R of course is pushed up into the interior of its former,

.VIS

only to be released when the former rises and thespring T pushes it downward.

In combination with vertically movable and revolving shafts J J', sustained in aframe, B, and acting alternately, as described, pulleys O O' to drive said shafts,springs P P to raise them, screw-threaded formers K K', ycam G' upon its revolving cam-plate G, mounted upon the revolving' central shaft, F, acting alternately to push down the shafts J J' to drive the formers K K into the caps to he threaded,

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arranged and operating substantiallyl as de scribed. v

CHARLES HOPE. Witnesses: v

H. W. GAssADY, J AMES M. OAssADY. 

